Students and staff gathered in a school gymnasium while police officers and search dogs swept through the school room by room.

"As far as I'm aware, it appeared that the school's emergency policy and protocol worked as it should here today," Wery said.

The responding law-enforcement agencies included the Fox Valley Metro, Kaukauna and Appleton police departments; the Outagamie and Winnebago county sheriff's departments; and the State Patrol.

School counselors and administrators were available to help students and staff process the event.

"When you see this many police around, certainly it's concerning, but it's also reassuring," Kimberly Superintendent Robert Mayfield said.

The school is located at 125 E. Kimberly Ave. It has about 450 students.

Incoming telephone calls to the school district weren't functioning Monday morning because of an unrelated construction issue. The district said on its website that it was working with AT&T to restore service.

"That made it very difficult for communication," Mayfield said. "We did send out a text email and voicemail to all parents to let them know what occurred this morning."

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Robert Mayfield, superintendent of the Kimberly Area School District, speaks to concerned family members outside Mapleview Intermediate School after an intruder alarm was triggered Monday. It was a false alarm.(Photo: Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)